Chapter 53: Unexpected Audience (3)
Almond defeated another player with an unbelievable play.
[Almond → Bubblegum]
[Eliminated!]
[2/100]
His strategy took advantage of a sniper rifle’s slow speed. Almond determined that it would be more efficient to match the bullet's trajectory with his arrow instead of dodging.
"I shot at it because I didn't have anywhere to dodge. I guess it worked out."
Only Almond could pull off this kind of strategy. No one else would even fathom hitting a bullet with their arrow.
— He's insane.
— That really happened...
— Oh man...
— Was that necessary LOL
— Just run and dodge it, human!
Most people would just run and dodge the bullets. To directly counter a sniper was unnecessary, but Almond thought differently.
"The opponent will be in control of my life if I dodge. I don't like that."
His fate would be up to the sniper, whether they hit him or not. However, his fate was up to him whether he hit the bullets if he fought back.
— Damn.
— He's so cool.
— Mom, I want to be Almond when I grow up! Mom, I want to be Almond when I grow up! Mom, I want to be Almond when I grow up!
— Almond!!! Almond!!! Almond!!! Almond!!! Almond!!! Almond!!!
— Mom: You can never be like Almond...
— What a sexy thing to say!
— That's crazy. The fact that you thought of that and pulled through as well.
His philosophy impressed everyone because he wasn't just all talk. He had proved it to them. The chain of events as he returned the grenade and countered the sniper’s bullets surprised every viewer.
Who would think that Almond playing in solo mode would be even more interesting than when he won as a solo squad.
[HanhwaFan has donated 50,000 won.]
[Wow... you never disappoint... unlike the team I cheer for...]
[RubySword has donated 100,000 won!]
[Explain what just happened!!!]
[Strategist has donated a whopping 300,000 won!]
[Wow!]
An incredible play deserved great rewards and donation amounts he had never seen before poured in. He hadn’t even won yet.
— He didn't even win yet and we're already celebrating!
— Apparently, Hanhwa considers this a victory.?
— Almond, win!
— Give him first for style points!
— Woah, look at the donations.
— How much is that all together?
Almond felt surprised too. He knew RubySword, but a random viewer had also donated 300,000 won! And he still needed to win.
Thump, thump.
Almond calmed himself.
'I haven't won yet.'
He even skipped out on thanking the donations and prioritized winning.
[2/100]
Almond slowly approached his last hunt. Only one more player stood between him and victory.
“Phew…”?
He exhaled a quiet breath in the empty field.
'Let's calm down.'
Almond needed to find out the enemy’s location. They hadn’t revealed themselves even during the previous fight, which made quite a ruckus. The enemy seemed calm like Almond, maybe even calmer.
The silence and calm continued for a couple of minutes.
The chat went wild during that time after finding out that Almond just killed the popular streamer Bubblegum.
— Wait, the person who just died. Is that really him?
— Bubblegum???
— Damn...
— Wow, it's for real.
— Wow! Boss, you made it to the big screen!
— Hey Bubblegum!
Almond didn't even glance at the chat because he was focused on winning. His determination to win fueled his concentration. He seemed like a beast when he set his sights on victory. He would give it his all even if it was an easy hunt.
One required the same mindset for the tenth shot even if the previous nine shots all struck the center of the target. The arrow and wind wouldn’t be affected by previous results.
Almond gave it his all even in bronze rank.
Swish.
He quietly placed his head on the ground and focused all his senses. Each grain of sand in the desert became part of his skin and the roots beneath the ground became like his hair.
Shaaa…?
His senses warned him of someone nearby.
'...!'
Almond slowly got up with his bow.
'Is it over there?'
He looked to the right at an awkward 45 degree angle and began moving.
— What the, did he hear something?
— Damn.
— He's like a professional hunter.
The viewers were awestruck as Almond headed in a certain direction without hesitation. They didn’t hear anything, but Almond did.
Chuk.
Almond suddenly stopped and strolled to the side. He drew his bowstring with minimal noise and aimed somewhere.
Creak…?
— What the? Where's he shooting at?
— ???
— Where's he at?
Pang!
The arrow graciously flew and made a bouncing noise as it landed somewhere. The bulletproof helmet it struck popped out from hiding.
"Urk!"
The last player alive came out and screamed in shock.
— Damn, he was really there.
— What was he doing hiding?
— That's expected from a bronze rank.
The player simply hid despite being one of the last two alive. He probably determined that staying in the blue zone was safer than coming out to fight.
'He didn't come out because of his location? I thought he seemed calm because he was confident in winning the fight.'
The opponent was just hiding. He risked it all to hide, but Almond quickly discovered him.
"Damn!"
He ultimately revealed himself and aimed his gun at Almond after his plan had been foiled.
However, something other than the gun caught Almond’s attention.
'Legendary?'
The opponent wore a shiny golden helmet on top of their head. This was a legendary item.
From what Almond knew, a headshot wouldn’t work against it. That was unrealistic, which also made it legendary.
— He got lucky farming.
— Wow, it's been a while since I saw a legendary helmet.
— Damn, there's a reason he's alive despite being bad.
— Hard as a diamond.
Tududududu!
The enemy began firing at Almond. He shot all over the place and into empty space.
Almond quickly moved and dodged.
Ting! Ti-ding!
Some bullets brushed past his shoulders, but none of them hit.
Almond calmly readied his bow.
Pang!
An arrow quickly flew.
Thwack!
It shattered the shoulder of the enemy’s shooting arm.
"Kugh!"
Arrows caused more injury than bullets when they penetrated deep because they also restricted muscle movement to a significant degree.
"Urk..."
The opponent held his shoulder in pain and couldn’t shoot anymore.
Almond had already prepared another arrow in that time.
'Hm?'
Pang.
The enemy suddenly popped a smoke grenade.
— What a guy.
— Wow...
— Damn, how much did he farm?
— Full farming meta.
The enemy threw a bunch of flashbangs and grenades at him. Almond finally realized how such an unskilled player survived until this point.
'You're stalling to heal?'
He determined in that brief moment that giving the enemy any more time would be disadvantageous.
Tak.
So he ran into the smoke.
The opponent wouldn't be able to see him either. His only choice was to kill them during the healing process.
Kwagwagwang!!!
Almond could hear explosions and various sounds as smoke came up from behind him. Thankfully, the massive explosion didn’t affect him from this distance.
Pzzt!
A flashbang also went off and his vision slightly blurred. Regardless, Almond jumped into the smoke.
Shhhuk.
The grey smoke enveloped him.
Cough, cough.
Almond could hear his opponent coughing in the smoke.
'Found him.'
Shuk.
One of the bow’s strengths was that it was silent.
Creak…?
It made no noise when reloading or preparing a shot. Almond was fond of the bow for such reasons. It felt more luxurious and classy.
The opponent was bandaging himself when he finally noticed the shadow before him.
"!"
Chul-kuk.
It was already too late when he grabbed his gun.
Ping—?
An arrow quickly flew and tore through his other shoulder.
"Urk!"
The enemy scrambled to grab a grenade after losing his gun.
Thwack!
Another arrow struck his feisty hands and fixed them into place like on a cross. He became immobilized now.
"Kugh?! H-How..."
They could barely see in the fog, but Almond still aimed perfectly.
"Wow, it's a pain in the ass to kill him because of that legendary helmet."
He could hear Almond muttering.
'Is that guy streaming?''
Thwack—?
That was the last thing he recalled. He instantly died as two arrows struck his chest.
A huge prompt popped up on Almond’s screen.
[1st]
No other words could bring him greater pleasure as an athlete.
Chuk!
Almond instinctively raised his arms.
'I did it.'
Victory!
***
His first solo victory. The solo squad had been a more impressive win, but the viewers enjoyed this round more. He achieved more kills and made it more fun to watch.
[Total: 31 kills]
He killed a total of 31 players out of 100, which showed that this was no ordinary victory.
— Wow, look at how many kills he got.
— Almond, you're crazy! Almond, you're crazy! Almond, you're crazy!
— 31 kills, holy shit. It's bronze rank, but still.
— Time to get banned again!
— He's going to get reported again haha.
— Mom, buy me Almond! Mom, buy me Almond! Mom, buy me Almond!
The viewers reveled in the excitement and spammed the chat.
Almond smiled in satisfaction and thanked the donors from earlier.
"Thank you, everyone. I couldn't say thanks earlier. Thank you RubySword, HanhwaFan, and Strategist. Thanks for the huge donations."
He would definitely remember the 300,000 won donor, Strategist. No one else, except Seo Ji-Ah, had donated such an amount.
Suddenly…
Babababam!
A loud trumpet rang out because an enormous donation came in.
[PersistentThrower has donated a whopping 1,500,000 won!]
[This one is feisty!]
"Ah..."
Sang-Hyeon suddenly became speechless for a moment.
'1.5 million?'
He had never received such a significant donation before other than on Acorn Jelly's stream.
— Feisty indeed!
— Haha, use a different word.
— Damn, 1.5m...
— That's crazy.
— That's a month of my salary!
— Goddamn.
— Son, become Almond! Son, become Almond! Son, become Almond!